The present invention is concerned generally with an apparatus for removing molten glass from a molten bath thereof, and transporting the molten glass removed from the bath to another station such as a glass processing station.
Glass Technology, volume 23, No 2, April 1982, pages 80 to 89, discloses an apparatus for taking molten glass from a melt or molten bath thereof, which is separated from a processing station by a wall structure having a taphole therein, and for transporting the molten glass removed from the bath to the processing station. That publication, in FIG. 7 therein, discloses such an apparatus having a lance which can be moved through the taphole and which can dip into the molten bath, with the leading end portion of the lance. The lance is mounted by way of a pivot arrangement on a connecting element of a motion-producing or drive unit. The connecting element is mcunted to the drive unit by means of a second pivot which is spaced from the first pivot. Both the first and the second pivots in that arrangement are pivotable about horizontal axes which are parallel to each other, but the angle of pivotal movement of the lance relative to the connecting element and the angle of pivotal movement of the connecting element relative to the drive unit are limited. Ihe fact that those angles of pivotal movement are limited in that fashion means that the position in respect of height of the processing station, which is disposed at a spacing from the taphole of the vessel containing the molten bath, relative to the surface of the molten bath in that vessel, is limited to lying in a relatively small range.
Another disadvantage of that design configuration is that, besides the above-mentioned pivotal movement, the connecting element is also required to perform a translatory movement relative to the drive unit in order to be able to take a given amount of glass from the molten bath by means of the lance, and in order not to limit to an excessively small area the region which is referred to as the drop-off or discharge region, namely the region within which the glass picked up by the lance from the molten bath can be dropped off or discharged, and also being the region within which at least one processing station is disposed. In such an apparatus, components which move with a translatory motion are a matter of disadvantage because the individual parts of such equipment can be exposed to relatively high temperatures as dictated by the molten glass in the bath, so that it is not possible reliably to prevent rusting, scaling and the like. Accordingly, components which only perform a pivotal movement relative to each other give rise to fewer problems because they can be better protected from the effect of elevated temperatures by screening means which are simple to install, in comparison with components which perform a translatory movement relative to each other.
German published specification (DE-AS) No. 29 05 767 also discloses an apparatus for taking molten glass from a molten bath thereof, wherein the lance is pivotable about a pivot and is movable with a translatory movement in the radial direction of the pivot, thus suffering from the disadvantages discussed above, which are to be found in an arrangement involving translatory movements.